


Dissolve

by Vievin



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Episode Retelling, Gen, I also suck with paragraph lengths, Wally-Centric, is that even a thing, now it is, pov fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 10:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15313539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vievin/pseuds/Vievin
Summary: The Luthor-Brainiac fight from Wally's point of view.





	Dissolve

Wally can’t deny it, he’s afraid. Luthor... Brainiac... Luthor-Brainiac? Damn this is getting confusing, but they have Wally at their mercy. They have already defeated the rest of the Justice League founders. The invincible Superman, the resourceful Batman, the courageous Wonder Woman, the otherworldly – heh – Hawkgirl, the brilliant Martian Manhunter, even the willful Green Lantern. What chance does he have, Flash the motor mouth?

He’s tired, hurt and wants nothing more than go home and rest for eternity. But he knows he can’t do that. Luthor-Brainiac needs to be dealt with. If he isn’t, he’s going to destroy the whole universe. Including Central City and his friends. And Wally can’t have that. But how could he defeat such a powerful entity with only the ability to go fast?

“Looks like the Question was right all along,” Luthor-Brainiac says. “I kill you, and then Armageddon. Right on schedule.”

“No!” Wally can’t deny it, he’s afraid. Nobody can blame him for that, though, with Luthor-Brainiac with a gun in his face and him being too worn out to even shake in fear. Shake- That’s it! He could vibrate his molecules to get out of the- the things’ grip. He concentrates, and his arms blur as he shakes them so fast they interfere with the constructs’ own vibration. They fall apart with an explosion and Wally stands up. Luthor-Brainiac still towers over him, their gun dissolving.

“Are you going to fight me, boy?” they ask. Wally feels weak, taking a step backwards instinctively. What did Batman always say? With legs so fast as his, flight would always win over fight. But he can’t back away now. The world slows to a crawl as his thoughts speed up. He doesn’t have any weapons, or super strength, or invincibility, or pretty much anything. And not like he can just punch Luthor-Brainiac to death. Unless...

He takes a deep breath and runs. What he needs to do – what he has to do – requires distance. Lots of it. He keeps in one direction, coursing over oceans, streets, deserts, and when he sees the figure of Luthor-Brainiac approaching again, he closes his eyes for a nanosecond and prays there’s a force that will aid him. His fist hits the fusion’s arm and to his surprise, a chunk of the undentable armour comes off, but Wally’s not around to see its shards fly in every direction. No, he needs more. More power. More force. More _speed_.

He notices something as he still accelerates. His fears are gone, replaced by pure determination – he will save his friends, his world, he will prove himself – and something else. Electricity courses through his veins, an unbridled energy that comes from beyond the universe. It’s like some kind of force heard his prayer and imbued him with pure speed. A speed force, heh.

Wally takes a breath and reaches out to the speed force, taking its offered energy for himself. It also protects him, surrounding Wally with a kinetic shield of sort that shatters even asphalt and concrete as he passes above it. Every time he races around the world, he becomes faster and stronger. Luthor-Brainiac can’t even comprehend his speed, his armour coming apart at his fists. When he stops, barely anything remains of it. Luthor-Brainiac looks frightened. Good. They should be.

He still feels the lightning in his blood, crackling off of him, the speed force urging him to move, but he ignores it as he holds Luthor-Brainiac down, vibrating his arm again but much faster than ever before. _He’s_ much faster than ever before. If Wally wasn’t so focused on saving his friends, he would be drunk with the speed force, but he has to concentrate now.

His hands dive into Luthor-Brainiac’s chest, ripping the machine away piece by piece. Luthor screams in pain, but the wind from his movements is deafening. The speed force’s blue lightning travels from his body and connects with Brainiac’s circuits. A massive explosion engulfs both of them, but Wally is protected by the kinetic shield from the speed force. Luthor is not. He’s done for, a naked and frightened wreck on the ground. His friends are safe.

But Wally has his own problem. Namely, he can’t slow down. The speed force is still coursing through him, electrifying his veins and vibrating his body. He’s taken too much of it and he’s paying the price now. He looks at Superman and understands the gravity of the situation from the shock on his face.

“I feel kinda funny,” he tells him. It’s the understatement of the year, but he can’t muster any more. He feels his body beginning to fade, and for a moment, he feels terrified. He will die. But as he’s becoming nothing, he feels a soft pull. The speed force is calling him. It wants to embrace him. He’s tired. He’s hurt. He gladly accepts.

It feels like he’s floating. There’s no pain, no suffering. It’s just him and the speed soothing him. It’s wonderful. He doesn’t feel tired anymore, he’s becoming pure energy. And then he can run forever. That’s what he wants. To run, to feel the speed and become one with it. He feels a smile on his face as he’s embraced by the speed force. It’s peaceful.

Then he feels a presence in his mind. J’onn. In the euphoria of the speed force, he’d forgotten about his friends. He’d sacrificed himself for the world, for them. But it’s okay. It doesn’t matter in the speed force. He just has to give in. He doesn’t struggle not to dissolve as suddenly the speed force is disrupted by a hand.

“Flash!”

“Shayera?” Huh? Why is she there? But it’s okay. “It’s so beautiful here.” He wants to make her understand. He wants to make her let go.

“There’s a force. A speed force. It’s calling me home.” Funny, he’s wanted to go home the entire fight, and now he is. The speed force is his home. He belongs there. He feels his thoughts fading as his essence dissolves, as he’s becoming one with the speed force.

“I have to go now.” _I’m sorry._ Shayera doesn’t relent, reaching out for him.

“No, Wally! Take my hand!” She grabs his wrist, and he’s suddenly reminded of their past conversations. When they talked together, smiled together, laughed together. His conviction to give in to the speed force wavers. Then he feels another connection. John.

“I’m here too, Wally!” More memories return to him. Then more connections. J’onn. Clark. Diana. Bruce.

“We’re all here!” Wally’s suddenly not sure whether he wants to give in to the speed force. It’s _home_. It’s calling. It wants to embrace him. But he would lose his friends.

“You gotta come back to us!” John shouts, his dear friend wants him back. Wally feels conflicted but makes no move to hold on to Shayera as she pulls him out, his body being stretched impossibly for a moment as it returns to the physical world.

Then there’s _pain_. The fight with Luthor-Brainiac and all his nanotech minions taxed his body greatly, and the speed force’s power has all but left him. Wally collapses immediately, no energy remaining within his body to stand. He has no fight left, can’t even lift his head as he lies limply in Shayera’s arms. She does it for him, the touch on his face warm and soothing in a way the speed force could never be.

He finds a new, quiet drive within himself: he doesn’t want the speed force. Not if it meant he could never be with his friends. His eyelids are drooping, it takes everything he has – which is admittedly not much – to stay awake, but he fights his fatigue as long as he can.

“I can never go that fast again,” he mumbles. “If I do, I don’t think I’m coming back.” He will miss it. It was exhilarating, the speed, the running. But it also almost killed him. It still felt so tempting, to just give in to the embrace of the speed force and forget about everything. But now, all he wants is to rest. The world’s safe. His _friends_ are safe. He lightly smiles as he drifts off in Shayera’s arms.


End file.
